Wanted: Workers to fill hundreds of Broome County-area jobs

A task force formed by the Broome County Industrial Development Agency is trying to address a worker supply shortage.
Jeff Platsky / Staff video

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Stacey Duncan, deputy director of community an economic development for Broome County, speaks about the workforce task force designed to attract workers for hundreds of job openings in the region.(Photo: Jeff Platsky/Staff photo)Buy Photo

Those only added to the hundreds of others that have been listed over the past several months as the area sheds its image as an economic backwater.

Finally, it appears, after years of decline and stagnation, the local economy is starting to mimic what the balance of the nation has been experiencing for at least seven years — growth.

Private sector jobs are expanding, albeit still at a pace somewhat lower than the national average. For a beleaguered region that has only viewed the emergence from the 2008 economic crisis from the sidelines, there's good reason for optimism, officials said.

Now, instead of dealing with a crush of unemployed people looking for work, those at employment offices are intensifying their search for skilled individuals able to fill several job orders that arrive daily.

The needs are so great, a new regional task force has been formed in an attempt to again lure people to the region and fill the pipeline of job applicants with newly-minted professionals and trades people ready to satisfy the expected demand.

On Thursday, a task force unveiled a plan to address current and projected workforce shortages in the region.

"This is an action plan, not a study," said Peter Newman, regional president of M&T Bank and co-chairman of the task force. "We know there are many people in this community committed to resolving the fact that we have too many job openings that are going unfilled."

If an employer needs gap persists, it could could hamper the region's ability to catch up to the balance of the nation in economic growth.

Part of the current worker shortage stems from the region's long economic decline. While the economy contracted from 2008 to 2017, workers sought opportunity elsewhere, often outside the state.

The labor force in the region — Broome and Tioga counties — declined by 16,000 people to 109,000. In 1990, when the labor department readjusted it numbers for statistical reasons, the region's labor force was more than 130,000.

However, there are signs of improvement, Workforce development officials said Dick's Sporting Goods was able to fill 200 positions for its new Conklin distribution center in a little under a month.

Other jobs still go wanting, particularly in health care and engineering.

"Binghamton has to do a better job selling itself," said Jason Garner, Broome County executive.

It is universally acknowledged that getting Binghamton University students to remain in the area is a difficult task because a many want to return to their homes in the New York metropolitan region. Yet, there is a sentiment that local companies and workforce officials can present the community in a more favorable light to convince some the hundreds graduating annually to remain local.

The task force will concentrate on six industries with the greatest workforce demands: health care; education; engineering, design and production; transportation and material moving; information technology; and construction and skilled trades.

"We are at the crossroads," said Jason VanFossen, superintendent of the Maine-Endwell Central Schools. "There are jobs and careers available."